The present invention represents a new and unique manner of treating commercial soy vegetable protein products such as soy beans, themselves, soy protein isolates, texturized soy protein, soy protein concentrates, soy grits, and soy flours which have a residual characteristic soy flavor present as an undesirable component. This natural soy flavor is not sufficiently removed by existing manufacturing techniques using a variety of processing methods including heat, pressure, steam, or steam injection since a residual flavor always remains ever how slight it may be.
This present invention makes use of the HLB(hydrophilic-lipophilic) balance of the nonionic surface agents polysorbate 80, polysorbate 60, polysorbate 40, and polysorbate 20 where by their lipophilic nature they are capable of coupling with the natural soybean flavor oil present in soybeans and in commercial soybean products and then by their hydrophilic nature are capable of solubilizing the coupled product in the processing water present. After the processing period is completed and all of the residual soybean flavor oil present in the soy vegetable product is coupled and solubilized, the pressure can be quickly released for rapid cooling or it can be cooled slowly before opening the processing vessel and the coupled and solubilized soybean oil is decanted from the treated product followed by three tap water rinses of the treated product to remove all residual traces of coupled product along with the processing water.
Other methods admittedly exist which use heat, pressure, and steam injection to remove most of the residual natural soybean oil from the soybean or the soybean vegetable product either during its manufacture or thereafter, but none excepting this present invention use a nonionic surface active agent, specifically polysorbate 80, polysorbate 60, polysorbate 40, and polysorbate 20, for coupling, extracting, and solubilizing the residual soybean oil and use a dihydric alcohol, specifically propylene glycol for facilitating the process by its wetting action.